As It Goes
by YuNicoe
Summary: Sometimes, things flow easier than you would ever think it would. Circus AU Kaishin


A round of applause rang through the small but neat tent as the performers of the day bowed and exited the stage, grinning. The audience started to leave, excited comments of the earlier performance exchanged between them. Today's show had been a success, as usual.

As they made their way backstage, Nakamori Aoko groaned, pulling at the edge of her costume. "Do you think they'll make the skirt longer? This is so revealing!" she grumbled. Beside her, her best friend, Mouri Ran gave a nervous laugh. "Maybe you should bring it up to KID." Aoko agreed, making it a point to go to her childhood friend for help later on.

KID, who was also known as Kuroba Kaito, was the Circus's main magician. His acts were very popular among the audience and he was also the one who made all of their clothes and did their make-up, and was also one of the busiest of the performers. Aoko has known him since they were both very young, and she would go to him or Ran first when she was in trouble.

"Oh, Bakaito!" she shouted, spotting him in a distance as she entered the tent. Kaito was with another man around his age, and gestured for her and Ran to come to him.

"This is Kudo Shinichi," Kaito said to the two of them. "And this, is Aoko and Ran." He continued, this time facing the young man. The man, Shinichi, bowed in a slightly awkward manner, introducing himself this time with his circus name, which was Conan.

Aoko smiled. They hadn't had much people join them lately, due to the high standards of their circus and she was glad to see a new face. She and Ran greeted him politely before she turned his attention to Kaito. "Hey, why are the clothes you made so revealing!" she glared, throwing one of the balls she had on hand at him.

Kaito dodged swiftly, and smirked, replying something about how he had just wanted to 'see her beautiful thighs'. Aoko's face turned tomato red. She screamed and reached out to whack him, following him around the tent as he moved backwards to avoid her hits.

Then she realized the newcomer, Shinichi, was still standing there.

She immediately stopped chasing Kaito, feeling embarrassed that she had acted so violently around the other man, who was probably still trying to get used to the circus and wasn't ready for the fuss and noise that other performers were used to. However, instead of the usual shocked look that others would have, Shinichi was _smiling_. It looked unnatural, as if he hadn't smiled in a long time, but it changed his face completely, brightening up his eyes and a nervous but large smile stretching his lips even after that.

This newcomer was nothing like how they had seen before.

He looked, in Aoko's opinion, wary of his surroundings and the people in the circus but also like he was hiding a lot, much like many of the other performers.

He was slightly interesting, she guessed, if even Kaito had stopped his ridiculous tricks to stare at Shinichi, looking lost in thought.

Even after a few weeks had passed since Shinichi had come, Aoko still couldn't claim to know much about the man. He had kept mostly to himself, occasionally seen smiling slightly at a book in his hands as he flipped through its pages, like it was the only thing that mattered.

However, Aoko _did_ know that Shinichi was very much, which was uncommon in the circus, with their lack of education. She had heard from Kaito that Shinichi had been a detective in a faraway town before he came to Ekoda in search of a new job. It made her curious about his past. Why would he quit being a detective even if it sounded like he had liked the job?

So she had brought up that question to Kaito.

Kaito had just smiled. It had looked sad, and sympathetic, as if he understood why Shinichi had done so, but didn't want to tell her the reason. He had changed the topic immediately after that, pulling another smile on his face and Aoko hadn't had the heart to ask again.

Aoko wasn't blind, of course. Kaito was close to Shinichi. Not the kind of close that Aoko was to Kaito, or Aoko was to Ran. It was just _different_.

Kaito made Shinichi smile, trying to help Shinichi shoulder his past, as Shinichi had helped Kaito shoulder his.

Aoko knew Kaito's past too, of course. His father had met an unfair end at a magic show, shot by someone. And even though Aoko had tried back then, she hadn't been able to talk about it with Kaito, afraid of hurting him and his feelings if she wasn't gentle enough.

But Aoko could see that Kaito was happy with Shinichi, just as Kaito made Shinichi happy. Even though Shinichi had been as cautious as a cat at first, repelling all of Kaito's attempts to talk to him, they were now good friends. Even as she thought this, they were sitting together on a bench at the corner of the tent debating about something.

Aoko smiled. She was glad Kaito had found someone to be with, even if she felt slightly lonelier now.

-  
When Shinichi had first been accepted into the circus, Kaito had tested him. He had given a fake smile to the man, wanting to know what his personality was like. Would he be arrogant, or friendly? Shy or outgoing? Would he smile back?

Shinichi hadn't smiled.

Instead, he had given an uncomfortable frown, shutting off to Kaito completely. Kaito wondered what he had done wrong. A smile would normally trigger a reaction with others, it would show them that he was friendly and vulnerable, open to their mutual friendliness, or their mean remarks. But the man had closed off. Why?

Keeping his smile intact, he had introduced himself and gotten the man's name before Aoko and Ran had arrived. Later on, when they were alone, he would find out what he did wrong.

-

When he had confronted Shinichi, this time with a worried frown, Kaito had found Shinichi reading a Holmes book, eyes shining with awe. This had surprised Kaito. Shinichi definitely did not seem like the wary person he had been before. He looked…cute.

Shinichi didn't seem to notice his presence, even after Kaito had stood there for quite a while and Kaito was starting to feel annoyed and tapped on Shinichi's shoulder lightly, causing the latter to jerk in surprise and almost fall backwards. Kaito couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that.

After talking and trying many times to pull Shinichi out of his shell, Kaito had finally found out that Shinichi had realized that he had been faking his smile and had been suspicious of him since then. This made Kaito _very_ interested. It had been very long since someone had managed to see through his fake smiles when he wasn't intending for them to.

He had chased, stalked and followed Shinichi almost every day from them on, driving the other mad with embarrassment when he popped out of Shinichi's closet when the man had wanted to change.

Shinichi was a mix of sexy and adorable. The man was also extremely smart, and had a comeback to whatever Kaito said. And this, gave him a lot of points in Kaito's book. He was exactly Kaito's type, to say the least.

Whenever Kaito gave Shinichi a rose, or got too close to him, Shinichi would turn a faint red and roll his eyes, giving a comment that was meant to chase Kaito away. Of course, Shinichi would never know that it only brought Kaito closer.

He was so in love, much more than he had ever felt before.

Shinichi didn't like it when people clung on to him and followed him everywhere. It gave him a headache and it made him feel annoyed that people couldn't mind their own business.

This was, of course, no exception when the magician of the circus he had entered had followed him _everywhere_. If it wasn't so embarrassing, he would have run to Aoko, the magician's childhood friend to get her to pull the disturbance far away from him.

But when Kaito, the magician, sat next to him and smiled at him warmly, teasing him lightly and starting smart conversations, Shinichi couldn't help but feel fond of him.

And that was bad. He didn't want to get attached, not at all. In fact, he had never even meant to enter a circus. He had needed a job badly and it just so happened that he had the skills to enter this circus, which provided a good pay…

 _He swallows as he remembers his last job, which provided a lower pay, but was extremely enjoyable…_

Before he knew it, Kaito had become a part of his life, along with the other members of the circus, with their hearty laughter and jokes. He had even made a good friend, Hattori Heiji, who blew fire from his mouth daily.

 _The fire had killed many, most which… had been his friends._

Shinichi wasn't sure if he should risk this, risk being attached to another set of people who may disappear within time, but learns from a certain stalker that no matter how lonely he got, someone would always find him.

He has also met Ran, the girl who had also been from his hometown, and his first crush, not that she ever knew or would know.

For once in his life, he feels complete. And, well, possibly even in love more than the first time, he thinks as Kaito leans in, and their lips touch.

A/N : Hi So I tried writing a Kaishin thing that kind of dragged on longer than I had ever planned (but turned out short, still) , but I hope that people will be happy with it! Honestly, it was supposed to be a VERY happy fic but it might or might not have turned dark once or twice haha xD

Notes that I was going to include but didn't :  
1) Shinichi is in charge of knife throwing  
2) Hakuba was supposed to be inside, and in charge of ponies (because his name is white horse) pft  
3) Aoko is a juggler, don't know if I mentioned this but just in case nobody knows why she was throwing balls at Kaito  
4) Ran was supposed to be a beast tamer I guess  
5) What happened to Aoko's costume because I got off course when Shinichi appeared oops 


End file.
